Generating high visibility social annotations

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for generating social annotations for content that are capable of being seen by a broad audience are provided herein. A system can include a user identification component configured to identify a user that has potential for generating a valuable endorsement of a content item based at least in part on a sharing setting associated with a user. The system further includes an audience component configured to determine an audience associated with the user based at least in part on the sharing setting, a user selection component configured to select the user as a candidate user for generating the endorsement of the content item in response to a determination that a size of the audience exceeds a threshold, and a targeted content component configured to, in response to selection of the user, provide the content item to the user with a capability to endorse the content item.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/689,893, filed Apr. 17, 2015, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/982,171 filed Apr. 21, 2014, eachof which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to generating social annotations forcontent that are capable of being seen by a broad or targeted audience.

BACKGROUND

Web based social interactions produce a wealth of signals that canfacilitate finding and recommending appropriate content for users. Forexample, various social network services allow users to endorse contentthey come across by marking the content as liked, commenting on thecontent, sharing the content, subscribing to the content, etc. Such userendorsements of content provides a key pillar for socially connectedsites in terms of generating more content views, interactions, and evensubscribers. All of these things are vital for keeping an Internet basedsocial network running at full steam and for delivering advertisementseffectively. Generating these endorsements in massive quantities and ina way that they can be used publicly is vital for the future of all ofthese services.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Numerous aspects, embodiments, objects and advantages of the presentinvention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detaileddescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich like reference characters refer to like parts throughout, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example system thatfacilitates receiving user endorsements for a content item that have arelatively high social annotation value in accordance with certainembodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 2 presents an example graphical user interface including a contentitem capable of being endorsed and a content item with a socialannotation associated therewith, in accordance with certain embodimentsof this disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example system thatfacilitates receiving user endorsements for a content item that have arelatively high social annotation value and employing the userendorsements to generate a social annotation for the content item, inaccordance with certain embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a high-level block diagram of another example systemthat facilitates receiving user endorsements for a content item thathave a relatively high social annotation value and employing the userendorsements to generate a social annotation for the content item, inaccordance with certain embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a high-level block diagram of another example systemthat facilitates receiving user endorsements for a content item thathave a relatively high social annotation value and employing the userendorsements to generate a social annotation for the content item, inaccordance with certain embodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for receivinguser endorsements for a content item that have a relatively high socialannotation value, in accordance with certain embodiments of thisdisclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow diagram of another example method forreceiving user endorsements for a content item that have a relativelyhigh social annotation value, in accordance with certain embodiments ofthis disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method for receivinguser endorsements for a content item that have a relatively high socialannotation value and employing the user endorsements to generate asocial annotation for the content item, in accordance with certainembodiments of this disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example schematic block diagram for a computingenvironment in accordance with certain embodiments of this disclosure;and

FIG. 10 illustrates an example block diagram of a computer operable toexecute certain embodiments of this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects or features of this disclosure are described withreference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used torefer to like elements throughout. In this specification, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of this disclosure. It should be understood, however, thatcertain aspects of disclosure may be practiced without these specificdetails, or with other methods, components, materials, etc. In otherinstances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagramform to facilitate describing this disclosure.

By way of introduction, the subject matter described in this disclosurerelates to systems and methods for generating valuable socialannotations that reach a wide or targeted audience. The term socialannotation is used herein to refer to visible (and/or audible) dataassociated with a content item (e.g., a photo, a video, an article, afeed post, a comment, a webpage, an advertisement, etc.) that indicatesa level of endorsement of the content item by at least one user. Thedata can include text, images, symbols, video, audio, hyperlinks, etc.For example, a social annotation can include a tag associated with acontent item that identifies a list of other users that endorse thecontent item. In another example, a social annotation can include animage, an animation, or a video that identifies one or more other usersthat endorse the content item.

Generally, users tend to trust and access content items that theirfriends or social network acquaintances recommend or otherwise endorse.For example, a user may watch a video because several of his friendsindicated that they liked the video. Accordingly, by providing a socialannotation with the video that identifies several of the user's friendswho liked the video, the user will be more inclined to watch the video.There are various ways for users to indicate their endorsement of acontent item that can be used to generate social annotations for thecontent item. For example, a user can explicitly mark a content item asliked, comment on the content item, review the content item, rate thecontent item, share the content item, or subscribe to the content item.A user can also implicitly indicate his or her endorsement of a contentitem by accessing or repeatedly accessing the content item (e.g.,watching or repeatedly watching a video) or performing an action basedon the content item (e.g., purchasing a product based on viewing of anadvertisement for that product).

However, not all user endorsements provided for or associated with acontent item can be used to generate a social annotation for the contentitem. This is because many users implement privacy settings thatrestrict what other users can receive or access information regardingwhat content items the users endorse. For example, a user John may notwant just anyone to know what content items he likes, or otherwiseendorses. According to this example, John may set access controlparameters that authorize only a particular group of users associatedwith one or more defined attributes are authorized to receive/accessinformation indicating what content items John endorses. For example,the access control parameters can define authorized users as those whoincluded in a particular social circle (being one or John's friend on aparticular social network), those who have a particular demographic(e.g., age, gender, ethnicity, etc.), or those who belong to aparticular class (top followers or fans).

Therefore, before endorsement information provided by a user for acontent item can be used to generate a social annotation for the contentitem, one must first determine the other user to whom the contentitem/social annotation will be presented and whether the user hasauthorized the other user to receive/access information regarding theuser's endorsement of the content item. It can thus be appreciated thatcontent item endorsements provided by users that authorize little or noother users to receive/access information regarding their endorsement ofthe content items will have little or no value with respect togenerating impactful social annotation for the content items.

The subject disclosure provides a mechanism for identifying users whoare prime candidates for generating content item endorsements that canspecifically be used to generate social annotations that can bepresented to a large and/or targeted audience of users. In one or moreembodiments, prime candidate users are those that are associated with alarge audience and that have authorized a large population of theaudience members to receive/access information regarding theirendorsement of content. In various aspects, prime candidate users areinitially identified and selected based on privacy settings they haveinstituted restricting what other users are authorized to receive oraccess information indicating their endorsement of a content item. Forexample, those users that have implemented privacy settings which allowa large audience to receive/access their content endorsements can beselected over those users which have implemented privacy settings thatallow few or no other users to receive/access information indicatingtheir content endorsement. In addition, prime candidate users can beidentified based on association with a large audience. For example,those users with large social circles are preferred over users withsmall social circles.

In some embodiments, a social annotation for a content item is desiredto facilitate welcoming reception and consumption of a content item by aparticular type of audience (e.g., a targeted audience). For example, anadvertiser may want to provide an advertisement to users that exhibit anaffinity for the product advertised by the advertisement. Such anaffinity can be determined using various known metrics and mechanisms(e.g., user content consumption history, user bucketing based on similarpreferences/characteristics, etc.). According to these embodiments, aset of candidate users are identified that are associated with audiencesincluding users that exhibit an affinity for a particular content item(e.g., the advertisement based on the product advertised by theadvertisement). For example, the set of candidate users can includeusers with a high amount (e.g., with respect to a threshold amount) offriends, followers, subscribers, etc., that exhibit an affinity for thecontent item. This set of candidate users is further restricted based ontheir privacy settings. For example, the users in the set are furtheranalyzed to determine an amount of the users' audience membersexhibiting the high affinity for the content item that are alsoauthorized to receive/access information regarding the candidate users'endorsement of the content item. Those candidate users having a largenumber of audience members exhibiting an affinity for the content itemand being authorized to receive/access the users' endorsement of thecontent item are selected as primed candidates.

After a prime candidate user is identified, a content item for which asocial annotation is desired is pushed to the candidate user in hopes ofreceiving an endorsement from the candidate user for the content item.In various embodiments, additional analysis is employed to furtherfilter candidate users based on inferences regarding likelihood ofendorsement of the content item and likelihood of provision of aparticularly desired type of endorsement (e.g., sharing vs. liking). Inresponse to endorsement of the content item by the user, (e.g., amarking of the content item as liked, a share of the content item, acomment on the content item, etc.), information regarding theendorsement is received. For example, the information can identify theuser that provided the endorsement, the type of endorsement the userprovided, and the content item that the user endorsed. Social annotationinformation can then be associated with the content item (e.g., asmetadata, in a reference index, etc.) that identifies at least the userthat endorsed the content item, the set of users included in the user'saudience that are authorized to receive/view the social annotation. Whenthe content item is later provided to a member of the user's audience, asocial annotation can be applied and presented with the content itemthat identifies the user as having endorsed the content item.

The subject systems and methods do not merely recite the performance ofsome business practice known from the pre-Internet world along with therequirement to perform it using a computer on the Internet. Instead, thesolution is necessarily rooted in computer technology in order toovercome a problem specifically arising in the realm of computernetworks. In particular, the subject solution is specifically targetedto the goal of increasing viewership and consumption of Internet basedcontent items (e.g., videos, postings, advertisements, websites,channels, applications, etc.) based on social annotations. Morespecifically, the subject disclosure addresses the various challengesassociated with achieving this goal that are particular to the Internet,including finding suitable users to target with a content item that canprovide endorsements for the content item that can be used to generate avaluable social annotation for the content item. With the subjectsystems and methods, suitable candidate users are automaticallyidentified for targeting content items in association with generatingsocial annotations for the content items based on metrics that areunique to consumption/usage of an Internet based entities. As a result,content items can be associated with social annotations that are highlyvaluable because they have the potential to influence (e.g., be seen by)a wide number of users or a targeted set of users.

In an embodiment, a system can include a user identification componentconfigured to identify a user that has potential for generating avaluable endorsement of a content item based at least in part on asharing setting associated with a user, wherein the sharing settingindicates one or more criteria required for users authorized to receiveinformation indicating content endorsed by the user. The system furtherincludes an audience component configured to determine an audienceassociated with the user based at least in part on the sharing setting,a user selection component configured to select the user as a candidateuser for generating the endorsement of the content item in response to adetermination that a size of the audience exceeds a threshold, and atargeted content component configured to, in response to selection ofthe user, provide the content item to the user with a capability toendorse the content item.

In another embodiment, a method is provided that includes identifying,by a system comprising a processor, a set of users having potential forgenerating a valuable endorsement of a content item based at least inpart on a sharing settings associated with respective users of the set,wherein the sharing settings indicate one or more criteria required forusers authorized to receive information indicating content endorsed bythe respective users. The method further includes determining, by thesystem, audiences associated with the respective users based at least inpart on the sharing settings, and selecting, by the system, a subset ofthe respective users of the set for generating the endorsement of thecontent item in response to a determination that a size of audiences ofrespective users of the subset exceeds a threshold. In addition, themethod includes providing, by the system in response to the selectingthe subset, the content item to the respective users of the subset witha capability to endorse the content item.

In yet another embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium is provided having computer-executable instructions, that inresponse to execution, cause a computing system to perform variousoperations. These operations can include identifying a user that haspotential for generating a valuable endorsement of a content item basedat least in part on a sharing setting associated with a user, whereinthe sharing setting indicates one or more criteria required for usersauthorized to receive information indicating content endorsed by theuser. These operations further include determining an audienceassociated with the user based at least in part on the sharing setting,selecting the user as a candidate for generating the endorsement of thecontent item in response to a determination that a size of the audienceexceeds a threshold, and sending, in response to the selecting, thecontent item to the user with a capability to endorse the content item.

Referring now to the drawings, with reference initially to FIG. 1 ,presented is a diagram of an example system 100 that facilitatesreceiving an endorsement of a content item that has relatively highsocial annotation value in accordance with various aspects andembodiments described herein. Aspects of systems, apparatuses orprocesses explained in this disclosure can constitute machine-executablecomponents embodied within machine(s), e.g., embodied in one or morecomputer readable mediums (or media) associated with one or moremachines. Such components, when executed by the one or more machines,e.g., computer(s), computing device(s), virtual machine(s), etc. cancause the machine(s) to perform the operations described.

System 100 includes a content provider 102 and a social annotationscomponent 104. Social annotations component 104 is configured tofacilitate receiving user endorsements for content items provided bycontent provider 102 that have relatively high social annotation value.Social annotations component 104 can further employ the endorsements togenerate a social annotation for the content item that is capable ofbeing received/viewed by a large or targeted audience. The purpose of asocial annotation is to encourage or entice another user to select,consume, or otherwise act upon the content item associated with thesocial annotation. Accordingly, the more users and/or the more of aspecifically targeted set of users that can be influenced by a socialannotation, the higher its value.

In one or more embodiments, social annotations component 104 can includeuser identification component 106, audience component 108, userselection component 110, and targeted content component 112. Socialannotations component 104 can also include memory 116 that storescomputer executable components, and a processor 114 that executes thecomputer executable components stored in the memory (e.g., the useridentification component 106, the audience component 108, the userselection component 110, and the targeted content component 112).

Although social annotations component is depicted as an element internalto content provider 102, it should be appreciated that socialannotations component 104 or one or more components of socialannotations component 104 can be located external to content provider102. Further, content provider 102, social annotations component 104,and/or one or more components of social annotations component 104 can beconnected either directly or via one or more networks, (not shown). Suchnetwork(s) can include wired and wireless networks, including but notlimited to, a cellular network, a wide area network (WAD, e.g., theInternet), a local area network (LAN), or a personal area network (PAN).

Content provider 102 can include an entity configured to provide contentor content items to a user at a client device (e.g., not shown) via anetwork (e.g., the Internet). For example, content provider 102 caninclude a website or application configured to present pictures,articles, blogs, videos, webpages, user profile pages, applications,websites, or any other type of content item, to client devices via anetwork. According to this example, the content provided by the websiteor application can be configured for downloading, streaming or merelyviewing at a client device via the network. In another aspect, contentprovider 102 can include an information store that provides access todata included in the information store via a network.

As used herein, the term content item refers to any suitable data objectthat can be linked to and accessed or otherwise shared via a network andincludes but is not limited to: documents, articles, messages, website,webpages, programs, applications, user profiles, advertisements andmedia items. In an aspect, a content item includes a data object thatcan be identified by a URL. The term media content or media item caninclude but is not limited to streamable and dynamic media (e.g., video,live video, video advertisements, music, music videos, sound files,animations, and etc.) and static media (e.g., pictures, thumbnails). Theterm media content or media item can also refer to a collection of mediaitems such as a playlist including several videos or songs, or a channelincluding several videos or songs associated with a single media creatoror curator.

In an exemplary embodiment, content provider 102 is an Internet basedstreaming media provider configured to provide streamed media to clientdevices over a network. For example, content provider 102 can include amedia provider that has access to a voluminous quantity (and potentiallyan inexhaustible number) of shared media (e.g., video and/or audio)files. The media provider can further stream these media files to one ormore users at respective client devices of the one or more users over anetwork. The media can be stored in memory associated with the mediaprovider and/or at various servers employed by the media provider andaccessed by client devices using a networked platform (e.g., a websiteplatform, a cellular application) employed by the media provider. Forexample, the media provider can provide and present media content to auser via a website that can be accessed by a client device using abrowser. In another example, the media provider can provide and presentmedia to a user via a mobile/cellular client application provided on aclient device (e.g., where the client device is a smartphone or thelike).

In an aspect, the media provider can facilitate video sharing betweenusers in a social networking environment. For example, respective userscan establish profiles with the media provider and connect with otherusers sharing similar media interests. In addition, users can establishtheir own channels which serve as avenues via which they share their ownmedia (e.g., media created, collected or otherwise associated withownership by the user). As used herein, the term channel refers to datacontent available from a common source or data content having a commontopic or theme. A channel can be associated with a curator who canperform management actions on the channel. Management actions mayinclude, for example, adding media items to the channel, removing mediaitems from the channel, defining subscription requirements for thechannel, defining presentation attributes for channel content, definingaccess attributes for channel content, etc. The channel content can bedigital content uploaded to the internet-based content platform by achannel curator and/or digital content selected by a channel curatorfrom the content available on the Internet-based content platform. Achannel curator can be a professional content provider (e.g., aprofessional content creator, a professional content distributor, acontent rental service, a television (TV) service, etc.) or an amateurindividual. Channel content can include professional content (e.g.,movie clips, TV clips, music videos, educational videos) and/or amateurcontent (e.g., video blogging, short original videos, etc.). Users,other than the curator of the channel, can subscribe to one or morechannels in which they are interested.

Various aspects of system 100 and the like are described herein inassociation with receiving and employing valuable user endorsements formedia items, where content provider 102 is a streaming media providerconfigured to provide the media items. For example, social annotationscomponent 104 is exemplified in association with receiving valuable userendorsements of a video or channel provided by a streaming mediaprovider and employing the endorsement to generate a social annotationfor the video or channel. The social annotation is further employed tofacilitate encouraging other users related to watch the video orsubscribe to the channel. However, it should be appreciated that variousaspects of system 100 and the like can be employed to facilitategenerating valuable social annotations for various type of contentitems.

User identification component 106 is configured to identify candidateusers of content provider 102 that have potential for generating avaluable endorsement of a content item. The larger the audience of userslikely to receive or access information regarding view a user's contentitem endorsement, the more valuable it becomes. Accordingly, a contentitem endorsement provided by a user affiliated with a large and activegroup of users (e.g., friends, followers, subscribers, etc.) at one ormore social networks/communities is more valuable than a content itemendorsement by a user that is only affiliated with a small group ofusers. However, even if a user is affiliated with a large group ofusers, the users may not be able to receive or view informationregarding the user's endorsement of a content item based on privacysettings implemented by the user. Therefore, in various embodiments,user identification component 106 is configured to identify candidateusers based at least in part on a sharing settings associated with thecandidate users, wherein a sharing setting indicates one or morecriteria required for users authorized to receive information regardingcontent endorsed by another user.

In particular, content provider 102 can be, include or be associatedwith a social networking system/service wherein respective users ofcontent provider 102 can become associated with an audience base. Forexample, respective users of content provider 102 can establish userprofiles or accounts via which the respective users can connect withother users and publicize or share information with the other users. Forexample, a user may share personal information, pictures, videos, songs,messages, life events, etc. The respective users can develop socialnetworks or circles by associating themselves with other users of thesocial networking system, such as by becoming friends with other users,following other users, subscribing to other users, etc. In addition,users of content provider 102 can belong to a plurality of differentsocial networks systems/services and likewise be associated with aplurality of different audiences or user groups.

As used herein, the term social network refers to a group of other usersa given user is associated with via an Internet or cellularcommunication based social networking system. For example, a userssocial network can include those users the user is friends with onsocial media network, those users that subscribe to the users mediachannel, and those users included in the user's phone contacts.

Social network systems/services, such as one employed by contentprovider 102, generally include privacy/sharing settings that enableusers to restrict what type of information is published via theirrespective profiles/user accounts and to whom such information isvisible or provided to in association with their user accounts/profiles.For example, when a user publishes a new photo or video via his or hersocial network profile at a social networking system, the user canselect what other user of the social networking system can see thephoto. According to this example, the user may allow any user to viewthe photo, only the users friends to view the photo, only a select groupof the user's friends to view the photo, or only the user himself toview the photo.

In another example, when a user endorses a content item in associationwith the user's social networking system identity, via privacy/sharingsettings provided by the social networking system, the user can restrictwhat other users will receive (e.g., via a notification, a feed item,etc.) or have access to (e.g., via information included on the user'sprofile/account page) information regarding the endorsement. Forexample, when a user shares a content item (e.g., a video, anadvertisement, a comment, a product purchase, etc.), on his or hersocial networking profile page, the user can choose what other users cansee the share. In another example, when a user likes a content item orcomments on a content item in association with his or her social networkidentity, the user can decide what other users are authorized to receiveinformation regarding the user's like of the content item or the user'scomment on the content item.

In one or more aspects, in association with implementing privacysettings regarding what other users can receive or have access toinformation regarding a user's endorsement of a content item, the usercan set his or her privacy settings to “public,” “private,” or a morepersonalized setting somewhere between public and private. For example,a setting of “public” can indicate that any other user of the socialnetworking system/service can receive or access information indicatingthe user's endorsement of a content item. In another aspect, a user canset his or her privacy settings to “private” to indicate that no otheruser (aside from the user himself or herself) can receive or accessinformation indicating the user's endorsement of a content item.

In other aspects, the user can set a privacy setting that identifies oneor more criteria for another user that is authorized to receive oraccess information indicating the user's endorsement of a content item.For example, the one or more criteria can relate to a user associationor classification. According to this example, the association couldinclude being a member of the user's social network (e.g., being afriend, a follower, a subscriber, etc.), or belonging/not belonging to aparticular user group/subset within the user's social network (e.g.,being a family member, being a college friend, not being a workcolleague, etc.). In another example, the one or more criteria candefined a specific set of characteristics of an authorized user, such asa particular demographic characteristic (age, gender, occupation, etc.)or a particular user preference (e.g., being a sports fan, being aRepublican, being a fan of a particular famous actor, etc.). Still inyet another aspect, the user can set a privacy setting that restrictswhat other users can access or receive information regarding the user'sendorsement of a content item based on one or more characteristics ofthe content item. For example, the user can allow all any users to knowthat the user endorsed a video classified as educational, yet restrictthose users that can know when the user endorsed a video classified aspolitically liberal.

In one or more embodiments, user identification component 106 canidentify a set of candidate users belonging to a networkingsystem/service employed by content provider 102 that haveprivacy/sharing settings for their user accounts/profiles satisfying apredetermined criteria (wherein a privacy/sharing settings defines oneor more criteria required for users authorized to receive informationindicating content endorsed by the user. In an aspect, the criteria canset a low threshold and require the privacy/sharing settings authorizeat least one other users to be able to receive or access informationregarding the user's endorsement of a content item. In another aspect,can set a high threshold and require a user's privacy/sharing settingsto be “public.” In another aspect, user identification component 106 canbe configured to exclude any user whose privacy/sharing settings are“private”.

In another aspect, the criteria can require a user's privacy/sharingsettings authorizes at least a threshold number (e.g., 10, 50, 100,1000, etc.) of other users to be able to be able to receive or accessinformation regarding the user's endorsement of a content item. Forexample, a user's privacy/sharing settings can define the authorizedusers as those which belong to the user's social network of the socialnetworking system employed by content provider 102 or a subset of theuser's social network members that are older than 18. According to thisexample, if the user's audience of authorized users exceeds thethreshold requirement, the user can be included in a set a candidateusers. In another aspect, user identification component 106 can applyselection criteria that require a user's privacy/sharing settingsauthorize a particular other user (e.g., user Tommy Jones), or aparticular type of user (e.g., the user's top fans/followers, users overthe age of 18, users located in Japan, etc.) to receive or accessinformation regarding the user's endorsement of content.

In various embodiments, a user can belong to multiple social networkingsystems. For example, the user can belong to a first social networkingsystem/service provided by content provider 102 and a second socialnetworking system/service provided by another entity. The user can alsolink his or her social networks from both the first system and thesecond system. For example, the user can authorize actions performed bythe user, such as endorsing a particular media item, to become a feeditem or notification at the second social networking system. Accordingto this embodiment, the user's privacy/sharing settings can definecriteria for other users that are authorized to receive or accessinformation regarding the user's endorsement of a content item ofcontent provider 102, wherein the criteria can relate to members of thefirst social networking system and/or the members of the second socialnetworking system. For example, the user can authorize his or herfriends/social network members of both the first and second socialnetworking systems to receive/access information regarding the user'sendorsement of a content item provided by content provider. With thisembodiment, a particular user's audience can include members ofdifferent social networks to which the user belongs, and thus expand.According to this embodiment, user identification component 106 can alsoidentify those users whose audience of authorized users exceeds athreshold number requirement and/or include a particular user or type ofuser.

Audience component 108 is configured to analyze the audiences ofcandidate users included in a set identified by user identificationcomponent 106 to determine or characterize a size and/or distribution ofthe audiences. In an aspect, audience component 108 can rank or ratecandidate users based on their audiences, wherein candidate users havinglarger audiences or audiences of particularly desired distribution(e.g., based on the implementation of system 100 and the like) areranked or rated higher. As used herein, a user's “audience” specificallyrefers to the set of users that are authorized and capable of receivingand/or accessing information regarding a user's endorsement of a contentitem.

In an aspect, audience component 108 can determine or infer a number ofmembers of a candidate user's audience. For example, when a user'saudience includes all members of the user's social network or a definedsubset of members of the user's social network, audience component 108can determine the number of users included in the user's audience.Naturally, this number can grow as the number of users in the user'ssocial network grows. In another example, when a user's audience isbased on a sharing/privacy setting of “public,” audience component 108can infer a number of members included in the user's audience based onthe number of user's in the users social network and the amount ofpublic (e.g., non-subscribing) traffic associated with the user'sprofile/account.

In various embodiments, system 100 can be applied to develop socialannotations that will be used to influence a particular group of usersto select, consume, watch (where the content item is video), subscribeto, or otherwise interact with a specific (know) content item. Withthese embodiments, candidate users with an audience base having a highdistribution of members having a particular characteristic is preferred.In an aspect, the particular characteristic can include a predeterminedpreference or affinity to the specific content item. For example, whenthe content item is an advertisement for a new television series,candidate user's that have an audience base that have been determined tohave an affinity for the new television series (e.g., based on variousmetrics such as user preferences and user bucketing) are preferred.Accordingly, audience component 108 can analyze the members of candidateusers' audiences and identify subsets of members of the respectiveaudiences that have the desired affinity for the particular contentitem. Those candidate users having subsets with a greater number ofusers can receive a higher ranking or priority.

Audience component 108 can also generally determine or classify thedistribution of a candidate users' audience base with respect to variousother parameters. For example, audience component 108 can determine thedistribution of a user's audience base with respect to a particular userdemographic, or a particular user preference. According to this example,depending on the content item for which an endorsement is desired, thosecandidate users having a higher audience distribution of a particulardemographic or user preference is preferred.

In another aspect, audience component 108 can determine the distributionof candidate users' audiences with respect to level of engagement ortraffic of the respective members with the user's profile/account. Forinstance, audience component 108 can determine that a first candidateuser has 100 audience members wherein 20% are considered highly engagedor active with the user's account/profile (e.g., 20% regularly view theuser's profile). Audience component 108 can also determine that a secondcandidate also having 100 audience members has 40% engaged/activemembers. According to this example, the second candidate user ispreferred over the first candidate user because a content itemendorsement provided by the second candidate user can be used togenerate a social annotation for the content item that is capable ofbeing seen by a greater number of total users.

User selection component 110 is configured to select a subset (e.g., oneor more) of the candidate users to send or provide a content item towith the intention of receiving an endorsement of the content item. Invarious embodiments, user selection component 110 can be configured toselect a subset of the candidate users bases on size and/or distributionof their audiences. In an aspect, user selection component 110 canselect a subset of the candidate users that have a number of audiencemembers exceeding a threshold amount. In another aspect, user selectioncomponent 110 can select a subset of the candidate users that have athreshold amount of audience members belonging to a particular group orhaving a particular characteristic. For example, user selectioncomponent 110 can select a subset of the candidate users based on thosehaving a threshold number or distribution (e.g., percentage) of audiencemember having a particular affinity for a known content item, having aparticular demographic characteristic, or having a particularpreference. In another aspect, user selection component 110 can select asubset of the candidate user based on those users having thresholdnumber or distribution of users considered active or highly engaged.

In some embodiments, in addition to a candidate user's audience sizeand/or distribution, user selection component 110 can consider variouscharacteristics of the candidate user in association with including thecandidate user in the subset of candidate users to send targeted contentto with the intention/hope of receiving an endorsement therefrom. Suchcharacteristics can reflect an inferred degree of confidence that thecandidate user is likely to endorse the targeted content. With theseembodiments, user selection component 110 can receive informationregarding a candidate user's endorsement history, wherein a candidateuser's endorsement history can include information regarding frequencyof content endorsement by the user, a characteristic of content endorsedby the user, or a type of content endorsement frequently provided by theuser. For example, a candidate user that has a large and active audiencebase yet rarely ever endorses any content will provide little value orno value for a system wherein value is based on the number of otherusers that are capable of receiving information regarding the user'sendorsement of a content item. Thus user selection component 110 can beconfigured to select those candidate users that more frequently endorsecontent relative to the other candidate users.

In another aspect, when a known content item is to be sent to theselected subset of candidate users in hopes of having the subset ofcandidate users endorse the content item, user selection component 110can be configured to select those candidate users that demonstrate ahigher probability of endorsement of the content item based on acorrelation between characteristics/preferences of the user and the typeof content of the content item. For example, if the content item isvideo advertisement related to football, user selection component 110can select a subset of the candidate users that tend to watch andendorse content related to football or sport in general over users thatdo not tend to watch and endorse content related to football or sports.

Still in yet another aspect, a candidate user's privacy/sharing settingscan restrict the type of endorsements another user is authorized toreceive information about. For example, a user may allow all users ofhis social network to see information regarding content items he likesbut not information regarding content items he subscribes to.Accordingly, if the user subscribes to a content item but does not likeit, the content item will not receive an endorsement from the user andthus will not receive a social annotation for the user. In some aspects,user selection component 110 can be configured to weight such variances(with respect to type of endorsements that audience members areauthorized to view), in a user's privacy settings when determiningwhether to select the user as a prime user for which to send targetedcontent. For example, user selection component 110 can associate thosecandidate users that restrict they type of endorsements their audiencebased is authorized to view with a lower priority or ranking than thosecandidate users that do not apply such a restriction.

In various embodiments, user selection component 110 can rank candidateusers based on a valuation of the respective candidates in considerationof one or more of the factors described above (e.g., audience size,audience distribution, audience engagement/traffic, content item to beendorsed, user endorsement history, etc.). The valuation can reflect aprobability that the candidate user with provide an endorsement for acontent time that can be used to generate an annotation for the contentitem, and a degree of usefulness/impact the social annotation willprovide. The user selection component 110 can then select a subset ofthe candidate users associated with a valuation exceeding a thresholdvalue.

Targeted content component 112 is configured to provide a content itemto a selected subset of the candidate users with a capability to endorsethe content item. In some aspects, as discussed above, the subset ofusers are selected based on the particular content item the targetedcontent component 112 has been configured to provide. In other aspectsthe subset of users can include users determined to be strong candidatesfor generating social annotations for any content item in general.

For example, targeted content component 112 can present a content itemto a selected user (as selected by user selection component 110) as arecommended content item, in a notification, in an electronic message,in a feed item, etc. In association with provision of the content item,targeted content component 112 can provide or enable a mechanism viawhich the user can endorse the content item. For example, targetedcontent component 112 can allow the user to provide input indicatingwhether the user likes or dislikes the content item. Targeted contentcomponent 112 can also allow a user to comment on the content item,provide a review of the content item, rate the content item, share thecontent item, or otherwise provide a form of public expression thatindicates the user endorses the content item.

In various embodiments, the content item that is targeted by targetedcontent component 112 to a selected subset of candidate users, with theintention of receiving an endorsement from the respective subset ofcandidate users, is an advertisement. Targeted advertisements caninclude videos, texts, images, hyperlinks, or other advertisementcontent that can be presented to a user. In an example, a targetedadvertisement can include a video advertisement. The video advertisementcan be rendered in a list of videos for a user to select and view, as afeed item, as an in-stream video advertisement, or in another suitableform.

In some embodiments, in association with sending or providing a contentitem to a targeted user (e.g., a user included in a subset of candidateusers selected by user selection component 110), targeted contentcomponent 112 can generate and include an invitation with the contentitem. The invitation can invite or prompt the user to provide feedbackassociated with content. For example, the invitation can invite a userto provide input that ranks (e.g., based on a suitable scale, such as astar rating, a number rating, etc.), reviews, or otherwise endorses thecontent. In some aspects, the invitation can offer the user a reward inreturn for provision of the endorsement. For example, the reward couldinclude a monetary reward, a coupon, or some form of benefit associatedwith usage of content provider 102.

In an aspect, users that are not selected to receive or view targetedcontent will not be presented with the targeted content. These users mayrepresent users who do not wish to share content and may have a negativeexperience if presented with the targeted content. Accordingly, if theseusers are not targeted, then satisfaction can be increased and responserates can improve.

FIG. 2 presents an example graphical user interface 200 including acontent item capable of being endorsed and a content item with a socialannotation associated therewith, in accordance with certain embodimentsof this disclosure. Interface 200 displays an example view of a useraccount/profile webpage or application page established by a user inassociation with usage of a content provider, such as content provider102. For ease of explanation, the account/profile page is for a usernamed “Erin.” The user account/profile webpage can facilitateinteraction and usage of the various services and content provided bythe content provider. For example, the user account/profile can beestablished with a streaming media provider that provides streamingmedia and related services to users. In another example, the useraccount/profile can be established with a social networkingsystem/service.

In various aspects, the content provider can provide and/or beaffiliated with a social networking system/service that allows users ofthe content provider to establish network identities via theirrespective user accounts/profiles and employ their network identities toperform various social interactions with other users. For example, thesocial interactions can include but are not limited to: connecting withother users, communicating with other users, collaborating with oneanother, establishing social networks and groups, sharing informationwith one another, sharing media/multimedia with other users (e.g.,videos provided by their channel), and receiving updates ornotifications regarding activities, actions, preferences, etc., of otherusers. The social interactions can be associated with usage of thecontent provider (e.g., chatting about videos provided by the streamingmedia provider, subscribing to channels provided by users of thestreaming media providers, etc.), and/or the social interactions can beassociated with usage of another content provider/service.

As previously described, the social networking system provided by and/orassociated with the content provider can include sharing/privacysettings that allow respective users to set sharing settings regardingwhat information is made available to and/or provided to other users inassociation with their respective user accounts/profiles. In particular,with respect to social annotations, the respective users can implementsharing settings that define what other users are authorized to receiveinformation regarding their endorsement of content. For example, Erincan set sharing settings that define one or more attributes of otherusers that are authorized to receive and/or access information regardingthe Erin's endorsement of content. The settings can also allow Erin tospecify characteristics of the content and/or characteristics of thetype of endorsement.

User interface 200 includes various sections via which useraccount/profile information is organized. The relevant sections ofinterface 200 include center feed section 202 and recommended section208. Center feed section 202 includes a list format of scrollable feeditems that are regularly updated. For example, the feed items caninclude information shared by other users, notification of noteworthyactivities and events, content provided by the content provider, etc.Feed item 204 includes a video advertisement. In an exemplaryembodiment, the video advertisement was pushed or targeted to Erin(e.g., by targeted content component 112) because Erin was selected as aprime candidate user that can provide a valuable endorsement for thevideo advertisement. The video advertisement 204 is associated withvarious sharing/endorsement utilities 206 that allow Erin to endorse thevideo advertisement. For example, these sharing/endorsement utilities206 include an option to like the video, an option to share the video,an option to comment on the video, and an option to subscribe to thevideo (or subscribe to an entity affiliated with the video).

If Erin were to endorse the video advertisement (e.g., using one or moreof the sharing/endorsement utilities 206), the endorsement could be usedto generate a social annotation that can be presented with the videoadvertisement when shown to users included in Erin's “audience,”(wherein Erin's audience includes those users Erin has authorized toreceive information regarding her endorsement of content). Erin wasselected as a prime candidate endorser for the video based at least inpart on her audience size and/or distribution. The specific mechanismsvia which selection of Erin is based are described supra with respect touser identification component 106, audience component 108, and userselection component 110. In an aspect, the video advertisement would nothave been presented to Erin if she was not selected as a primeendorsement candidate (e.g., via user selection component 110).

Recommended section 208 includes various content that has beenrecommended to Erin. Recommended section 208 particularly demonstratesinclusion of social annotations with content items. In particular,content item 210 includes a video that has been recommended to Erin. Asocial annotation 212 is associated with the video and indicates thatErin's friends Tom, Amy, Beth, and Joe liked the video. In anotherexample, content item 214 includes an advertisement that also includes asocial annotation 216 indicating more than 20 of Erin's friends likedthe advertisement. By including such social annotations on content itemsthat indicate other users in Erin's social network or networks that haveendorsed the content items, Erin will be more inclined to select thecontent items.

Referring now to FIG. 3 , presented is an example system 300 thatfacilitates receiving user endorsements for a content item that have arelatively high social annotation value, and employing the userendorsements to generate a social annotation for the content item, inaccordance with certain embodiments of this disclosure. System 300includes same or similar features and functionality as system 100 withthe addition of endorsement component 302, annotation indexing component304, and publication component 306 to social annotations component 104.Repetitive description of like elements employed in respectiveembodiments of systems and processes described herein is omitted forsake of brevity.

Endorsement component 302 is configured to receive informationidentifying an endorsement of a content item provided to a targeted userby targeted content component 112. For example, endorsement component302 can receive information indicating that a targeted user endorsed acontent item in response to endorsement of the content item by thetargeted user. The information can identify the content item and thetype of endorsement provided by the targeted user. For example, theinformation can indicate that the user performed at least one of thefollowing actions: liked the content item, shared the content item,commented on the content item, reviewed the content item, or rated thecontent item (e.g., with a positive rating). In some aspects,endorsement component 302 can receive information regarding implicituser actions, and characterize such actions as an indication ofendorsement of the content item. For example, endorsement component 302can consider mere viewing or selection of the content item (e.g.,watching a video, repeatedly watching the video) as an indication ofendorsement of the content item by the user. In another example, when acontent item includes a hyperlink, endorsement component 302 canconsider selection of the hyperlink as an indication of endorsement ofthe content item by the user.

Annotation indexing component 304 is configured to associate informationwith a content item that identifies users that have endorsed the contentitem. Annotation indexing component 304 can also associate informationwith the respective users that have endorsed the content item thatidentifies their respective audiences. In some aspects, indexingcomponent 304 can include information with the users indicting the typeof endorsement they respectively provided for the content item (e.g.,liked, shared, selected, watched, etc.). In various additional aspects,annotation indexing component 304 can include information withrespective audience members of a user that indicates a social network ornetworks via which the respective audience members are affiliated withthe user associated with the audience (e.g., when the audience includesmembers from different social networks).

Publication component 306 is configured to employ information indexed byannotation indexing component 304 and apply a social annotation (e.g.,social annotations 212 and 216) to a content item in association withpresentation of the content item to a user. The social annotation willinclude one or more other users that have endorsed the content item andthat are associated with the user (e.g., a friend, a follower, anacquaintance) via one or more social networks. For example, when contentprovider 102 presents the content item to a particular user, publicationcomponent 306 can employ information associated with the content item byannotation indexing component 304 that identifies users that haveendorsed the content item and their respective audiences. Publicationcomponent 306 can identify audiences (if any) that the particular useris a member of and then identify the respective users (e.g., theendorsers) associated with those audiences. Publication component 306can then generate and include a social annotation with the content itemthat identifies or describes the respective users. For example, thesocial annotation can include information listing the names of the usersas people who have endorsed the content item.

In various embodiments, social annotations can accompany a content itemin association with a post on a user's social networking profile, a poston a user's social networking feed (e.g., blog), a post on a webpage(e.g., a video sharing website), a notification to be sent to otherusers, an in-stream video, and the like. As such, annotations can takemany forms such as likes, plus ones, and textual commentary to name afew. In an aspect, appropriate selection of targeted users canfacilitate generation of highly visible annotations, increaseperformance, and increased user satisfaction.

In one or more embodiments, publication component 306 can include asocial annotations with a content item that is presented in associationwith various social networks, including social networks provided bycontent provider 102 and other entities. The social annotation canfurther reflect the source at which the content item is published. Forexample, if a content item is published to a particular user at a firstsocial networking source, the social annotations associated with thecontent item can include a set of members of the first social networkingsource that are affiliated with the particular user at the firstnetworking source. Likewise, if a content item is published to aparticular user at a second social networking source, the socialannotations associated with the content item can include a set ofmembers of the second social networking source that are affiliated withthe particular user at the first networking source. Still in yet anotheraspect, regardless of the source to which a content item is published,the social annotations associated therewith can come from users ofdifferent social networks.

In an aspect, publication of an annotation with a content item caninclude posting, generating notifications, or otherwise disseminatingannotations. In another aspect, destinations can include social networksites, other websites, servers, mobile devices, electronic mailboxes,and the like. For example, publication component 306 can upload anannotation to an application server, social network server, or the like.In another aspect, publication component 306 can generate messages ornotifications and can transmit the messages or notifications to users.For example, a user can respond to a targeted invitation. An annotationcan be generated based on the response and the annotation can be sent ina message or notification. In some embodiments, publication component306 can select users to and transmit the annotation to the selectedusers.

In some aspects, publication component 306 can generate socialannotations in different forms based on the identified destination for acontent item/annotation. In some embodiments, publication component 306can generate annotations based on appropriate formats. For example, aresponse to be published on a social networking site can have adifferent format than a response to be published to other networks(e.g., mobile application purchasing sites).

In another aspect, publication component 306 can publish annotations tosocial networks or services that are not explicitly relate to a userassociated with the annotations. For example, a target user can endorsea content item and the endorsement can be used to generate an annotationthat can be published on websites or other entities. In one example, theannotation can be published or utilized by websites or services withwhich the targeted user does not actively participate. In an aspect, atargeted user can provide input to allow publication component 306 topublish annotations to one or more entities that the user does notbelong to or otherwise participate.

In some aspects, publication component 306 can generate socialannotations in different forms based on the identified destination for acontent item/annotation. In some embodiments, publication component 306can generate annotations based on appropriate formats. For example, aresponse to be published on a social networking site can have adifferent format than a response to be published to other networks(e.g., mobile application purchasing sites).

Referring now to FIG. 4 , presented is an example system 400 thatfacilitates receiving user endorsements for a content item that have arelatively high social annotation value, and employing the userendorsements to generate a social annotation for the content item, inaccordance with certain embodiments of this disclosure. System 400includes same or similar features and functionality as system 300 withthe addition of sharing component 402. Repetitive description of likeelements employed in respective embodiments of systems and processesdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

Sharing component 402 component is configured to perform various actionsbased on a user's sharing settings in association with promotingvaluable user endorsements. In an aspect, sharing settings can beconfigured based on a user input. For example, sharing component 402 canrender a set of sharing settings that can be altered based on userinput. In some aspects, sharing component 402 can apply a defaultsharing setting for users who have not manually configured sharingsettings. It is noted that sharing settings can be stored, accessed, orotherwise maintained by sharing component 402.

In an embodiment, sharing component 402 can determine whether a user hasaltered, viewed, or otherwise interacted with sharing settings. Forexample, sharing component 402 can determine whether a user hasinteracted with sharing or privacy settings based on stored user actionsand/or differences between a default sharing setting and a user'ssharing settings. In various embodiments, sharing component 402 isconfigured to generate a prompt that requests a user to provide input toalter a sharing setting to a less restrictive setting. For example,sharing component 402 can be configured to send a request to a userasking the user to alter his or her privacy setting regarding visibilityof user endorsements to a less restrictive setting (e.g., from privateto public, or from private to a defined group of users) in response to adetermination that the sharing setting is set to private.

In one or more embodiments, user identification component 106 can beconfigured to select users that have not yet interacted with sharingsettings. The selected users can be candidates for receiving or beingpresented with targeted content. For example, the user identificationcomponent 106 can be configured to identify a potential candidate userbased on a determination that the sharing setting for the potentialcandidate user is set to a default value. The sharing component 402 canin turn be configured to, in response to the determination that thesharing setting is set to a default value, prompt the user to adjust thesharing setting to indicate a broader criteria required for usersauthorized to receive information indicating content endorsed by theuser.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , presented is an example system 500 thatfacilitates receiving user endorsements for a content item that have arelatively high social annotation value, and employing the userendorsements to generate a social annotation for the content item, inaccordance with certain embodiments of this disclosure. System 500includes same or similar features and functionality as system 300 withthe addition of inference component 502. Repetitive description of likeelements employed in respective embodiments of systems and processesdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

Inference component 502 is configured to provide for or aid in variousinferences or determinations associated with aspects of socialannotations component 104. Moreover, inference component 502 may begranted access to all or portions of other components such as those ofsystems 100, 300, etc.

In an aspect, inference component 502 can generate inferences associatedwith candidate users. The inferences can include probabilities as towhether a user will provide a content endorsement, an estimate number ofusers that will actually view the content item and converge on a socialannotation generated based on the user's content endorsement, and thelike. In one aspect, the user selection component 110 can determinewhether to select users based on inferences provided by the inferencecomponent 502. For example, a user can be selected if an estimate numberof users that will actually view a response meets a threshold number. Inanother example, a user can be selected based on a probabilityassociated with the user viewing or otherwise accessing targetedcontent.

In order to provide for or aid in the numerous inferences describedherein, inference component 502 can examine the entirety or a subset ofthe data to which it is granted access and can provide for reasoningabout or infer states of the system, environment, etc. from a set ofobservations as captured via events and/or data. An inference can beemployed to identify a specific context or action, or can generate aprobability distribution over states, for example. The inference can beprobabilistic—that is, the computation of a probability distributionover states of interest based on a consideration of data and events. Aninference can also refer to techniques employed for composinghigher-level events from a set of events and/or data.

Such an inference can result in the construction of new events oractions from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whetheror not the events are correlated in close temporal proximity, andwhether the events and data come from one or several event and datasources. Various classification (explicitly and/or implicitly trained)schemes and/or systems (e.g., support vector machines, neural networks,expert systems, Bayesian belief networks, fuzzy logic, data fusionengines, etc.) can be employed in connection with performing automaticand/or inferred action in connection with the claimed subject matter.

A classifier can map an input attribute vector, x=(x1, x2, x3, x4, xn),to a confidence that the input belongs to a class, such as byf(x)=confidence(class). Such classification can employ a probabilisticand/or statistical-based analysis (e.g., factoring into the analysisutilities and costs) to prognose or infer an action that a user desiresto be automatically performed. A support vector machine (SVM) is anexample of a classifier that can be employed. The SVM operates byfinding a hyper-surface in the space of possible inputs, where thehyper-surface attempts to split the triggering criteria from thenon-triggering events. Intuitively, this makes the classificationcorrect for testing data that is near, but not identical to trainingdata. Other directed and undirected model classification approachesinclude, e.g., naïve Bayes, Bayesian networks, decision trees, neuralnetworks, fuzzy logic models, and probabilistic classification modelsproviding different patterns of independence can be employed.Classification as used herein also is inclusive of statisticalregression that is utilized to develop models of priority.

FIGS. 6-8 illustrate various methodologies in accordance with certainembodiments of this disclosure. While, for purposes of simplicity ofexplanation, the methodologies are shown media a series of acts withinthe context of various flowcharts, it is to be understood andappreciated that embodiments of the disclosure are not limited by theorder of acts, as some acts may occur in different orders and/orconcurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. Forexample, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that amethodology can alternatively be represented as a series of interrelatedstates or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not allillustrated acts may be required to implement a methodology inaccordance with the disclosed subject matter. Additionally, it is to befurther appreciated that the methodologies disclosed hereinafter andthroughout this disclosure are capable of being stored on an article ofmanufacture to facilitate transporting and transferring suchmethodologies to computers. The term article of manufacture, as usedherein, is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device or storage media. It is noted that the methodsdepicted in FIGS. 6-8 can be performed by various systems disclosedherein, such as systems 100, 300, 400 and 500.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example method 600 for receiving user endorsementsfor a content item that have a relatively high social annotation value,in accordance with certain embodiments of this disclosure. Repetitivedescription of like elements employed in respective embodiments ofsystem and methods described herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

At 602 a set of users having potential for generating a valuableendorsement of a content item is identified based at least in part on asharing settings associated with respective users of the set (e.g., viauser identification component 106). The sharing settings indicate one ormore criteria required for users authorized to receive informationindicating content endorsed by the respective users. At 604, audiencesassociated with the respective users are determined based at least inpart on the sharing settings (e.g., via audience component 108). At 606,a subset of the respective users of the set is selected for generatingthe endorsement of the content item in response to a determination thata size of audiences of respective users of the subset exceeds athreshold (e.g., via user selection component 110). At 608, in responseto the selecting the subset, the content item is provided to therespective users of the subset with a capability to endorse the contentitem (e.g., via targeted content component 112).

FIG. 7 illustrates an example method 700 for receiving user endorsementsfor a content item that have a relatively high social annotation valueand employing those endorsements to generate social annotations, inaccordance with certain embodiments of this disclosure. Repetitivedescription of like elements employed in respective embodiments ofsystem and methods described herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

At 702 a set of users having potential for generating a valuableendorsement of a content item is identified based at least in part on asharing settings associated with respective users of the set (e.g., viauser identification component 106). The sharing settings indicate one ormore criteria required for users authorized to receive informationindicating content endorsed by the respective users. At 704, audiencesassociated with the respective users are determined based at least inpart on the sharing settings (e.g., via audience component 108). At 706,a subset of the respective users of the set is selected for generatingthe endorsement of the content item in response to a determination thata size of audiences of respective users of the subset exceeds athreshold (e.g., via user selection component 110). At 708, in responseto the selecting the subset, the content item is provided to therespective users of the subset with a capability to endorse the contentitem.

At 710 an endorsement of the content item is received by at least oneuser included in the subset (e.g., via endorsement component 302). At712, information is associated with the content item identifying the atleast one user as an endorser of the content item and identifying theaudience of the at least one user (e.g., via annotation indexingcomponent 304). At 714 a social annotation is generated by the system(e.g., via publication component 306) that indicates the at least oneuser has endorsed the content item. At 716, the content item is providedby the system, with the social annotation associated therewith, to oneor more users included in the at least one user's audience.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example method 800 for receiving userendorsements for a content item that have a relatively high socialannotation value, in accordance with certain embodiments of thisdisclosure. Repetitive description of like elements employed inrespective embodiments of system and methods described herein is omittedfor sake of brevity.

At 802 a set of users having potential for generating a valuableendorsement of a content item is identified based at least in part on asharing settings associated with respective users of the set (e.g., viauser identification component 106). The sharing settings indicate one ormore criteria required for users authorized to receive informationindicating content endorsed by the respective users. At 804, audiencesassociated with the respective users are determined based at least inpart on the sharing settings (e.g., via audience component 108). At 606,respective amounts of users included in the respective audiences thatdemonstrate a predisposed affinity for the content item are determined(e.g., via audience component 108). At 608 a subset of the users areselected by the system based on their audiences having a greater amountof users that demonstrate the predisposed affinity for the content itemrelative to audiences of other users in the set (e.g., via userselection component 110). At 610, in response to the selecting thesubset, the content item is provided to the respective users of thesubset with a capability to endorse the content item (e.g., via targetedcontent component 112).

The systems and processes described below can be embodied withinhardware, such as a single integrated circuit (IC) chip, multiple ICs,an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or the like. Further,the order in which some or all of the process blocks appear in eachprocess should not be deemed limiting. Rather, it should be understoodthat some of the process blocks can be executed in a variety of orders,not all of which may be explicitly illustrated herein.

With reference to FIG. 9 , a suitable environment 900 for implementingvarious aspects of the claimed subject matter includes a computer 902.The computer 902 includes a processing unit 904, a system memory 906, acodec 935, and a system bus 908. The system bus 908 couples systemcomponents including, but not limited to, the system memory 906 to theprocessing unit 904. The processing unit 904 can be any of variousavailable processors. Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessorarchitectures also can be employed as the processing unit 904.

The system bus 908 can be any of several types of bus structure(s)including the memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus orexternal bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of available busarchitectures including, but not limited to, Industrial StandardArchitecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture (MSA), Extended ISA(EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB),Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Card Bus, Universal Serial Bus(USB), Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association bus (PCMCIA), Firewire (IEEE 1394), and SmallComputer Systems Interface (SCSI).

The system memory 906 includes volatile memory 910 and non-volatilememory 912. The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basicroutines to transfer information between elements within the computer902, such as during start-up, is stored in non-volatile memory 912. Inaddition, according to present innovations, codec 935 may include atleast one of an encoder or decoder, wherein the at least one of anencoder or decoder may consist of hardware, software, or a combinationof hardware and software. Although, codec 935 is depicted as a separatecomponent, codec 935 may be contained within non-volatile memory 912. Byway of illustration, and not limitation, non-volatile memory 912 caninclude read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electricallyprogrammable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM(EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory 910 includes random accessmemory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. According to presentaspects, the volatile memory may store the write operation retry logic(not shown in FIG. 9 ) and the like. By way of illustration and notlimitation, RAM is available in many forms such as static RAM (SRAM),dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM(DDR SDRAM), and enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM.

Computer 902 may also include removable/non-removable,volatile/non-volatile computer storage medium. FIG. 9 illustrates, forexample, disk storage 914. Disk storage 914 includes, but is not limitedto, devices like a magnetic disk drive, solid state disk (SSD) floppydisk drive, tape drive, Jaz drive, Zip drive, LS-100 drive, flash memorycard, or memory stick. In addition, disk storage 914 can include storagemedium separately or in combination with other storage medium including,but not limited to, an optical disk drive such as a compact disk ROMdevice (CD-ROM), CD recordable drive (CD-R Drive), CD rewritable drive(CD-RW Drive) or a digital versatile disk ROM drive (DVD-ROM). Tofacilitate connection of the disk storage devices 914 to the system bus908, a removable or non-removable interface is typically used, such asinterface 916. It is appreciated that storage devices 914 can storeinformation related to a user. Such information might be stored at orprovided to a server or to an application running on a user device. Inone embodiment, the user can be notified (e.g., by way of outputdevice(s) 936) of the types of information that are stored to diskstorage 914 and/or transmitted to the server or application. The usercan be provided the opportunity to opt-in or opt-out of having suchinformation collected and/or shared with the server or application(e.g., by way of input from input device(s) 928).

It is to be appreciated that FIG. 9 describes software that acts as anintermediary between users and the basic computer resources described inthe suitable operating environment 900. Such software includes anoperating system 918. Operating system 918, which can be stored on diskstorage 914, acts to control and allocate resources of the computersystem 902. Applications 920 take advantage of the management ofresources by operating system 918 through program modules 924, andprogram data 926, such as the boot/shutdown transaction table and thelike, stored either in system memory 906 or on disk storage 914. It isto be appreciated that the claimed subject matter can be implementedwith various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

A user enters commands or information into the computer 902 throughinput device(s) 928. Input devices 928 include, but are not limited to,a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad,keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TVtuner card, digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and thelike. These and other input devices connect to the processing unit 904through the system bus 908 via interface port(s) 930. Interface port(s)930 include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, a game port,and a universal serial bus (USB). Output device(s) 936 use some of thesame type of ports as input device(s) 928. Thus, for example, a USB portmay be used to provide input to computer 902 and to output informationfrom computer 902 to an output device 936. Output adapter 934 isprovided to illustrate that there are some output devices 936 likemonitors, speakers, and printers, among other output devices 936, whichrequire special adapters. The output adapters 934 include, by way ofillustration and not limitation, video and sound cards that provide ameans of connection between the output device 936 and the system bus908. It should be noted that other devices and/or systems of devicesprovide both input and output capabilities such as remote computer(s)938.

Computer 902 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)938. The remote computer(s) 938 can be a personal computer, a server, arouter, a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance, apeer device, a smart phone, a tablet, or other network node, andtypically includes many of the elements described relative to computer902. For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device 940 isillustrated with remote computer(s) 938. Remote computer(s) 938 islogically connected to computer 902 through a network interface 942 andthen connected via communication connection(s) 944. Network interface942 encompasses wire and/or wireless communication networks such aslocal-area networks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN) and cellularnetworks. LAN technologies include Fiber Distributed Data Interface(FDDI), Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI), Ethernet, Token Ringand the like. WAN technologies include, but are not limited to,point-to-point links, circuit switching networks like IntegratedServices Digital Networks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packetswitching networks, and Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL).

Communication connection(s) 944 refers to the hardware/software employedto connect the network interface 942 to the bus 908. While communicationconnection 944 is shown for illustrative clarity inside computer 902, itcan also be external to computer 902. The hardware/software necessaryfor connection to the network interface 942 includes, for exemplarypurposes only, internal and external technologies such as, modemsincluding regular telephone grade modems, cable modems and DSL modems,ISDN adapters, and wired and wireless Ethernet cards, hubs, and routers.

Referring now to FIG. 10 , there is illustrated a schematic blockdiagram of a computing environment 1000 in accordance with thisspecification. The system 1000 includes one or more client(s) 1002(e.g., laptops, smart phones, PDAs, media players, computers, portableelectronic devices, tablets, and the like). The client(s) 1002 can behardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices).The system 1000 also includes one or more server(s) 1004. The server(s)1004 can also be hardware or hardware in combination with software(e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The servers 1004 canhouse threads to perform transformations by employing aspects of thisdisclosure, for example. One possible communication between a client1002 and a server 1004 can be in the form of a data packet transmittedbetween two or more computer processes wherein the data packet mayinclude video data. The data packet can include a cookie and/orassociated contextual information, for example. The system 1000 includesa communication framework 1006 (e.g., a global communication networksuch as the Internet, or mobile network(s)) that can be employed tofacilitate communications between the client(s) 1002 and the server(s)1004.

Communications can be facilitated via a wired (including optical fiber)and/or wireless technology. The client(s) 1002 are operatively connectedto one or more client data store(s) 1008 that can be employed to storeinformation local to the client(s) 1002 (e.g., cookie(s) and/orassociated contextual information). Similarly, the server(s) 1004 areoperatively connected to one or more server data store(s) 1010 that canbe employed to store information local to the servers 1004.

In one embodiment, a client 1002 can transfer an encoded file, inaccordance with the disclosed subject matter, to server 1004. Server1004 can store the file, decode the file, or transmit the file toanother client 1002. It is to be appreciated, that a client 1002 canalso transfer uncompressed file to a server 1004 and server 1004 cancompress the file in accordance with the disclosed subject matter.Likewise, server 1004 can encode video information and transmit theinformation via communication framework 1006 to one or more clients1002.

The illustrated aspects of the disclosure may also be practiced indistributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed byremote processing devices that are linked through a communicationsnetwork. In a distributed computing environment, program modules can belocated in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Moreover, it is to be appreciated that various components describedherein can include electrical circuit(s) that can include components andcircuitry elements of suitable value in order to implement theembodiments of the subject innovation(s). Furthermore, it can beappreciated that many of the various components can be implemented onone or more integrated circuit (IC) chips. For example, in oneembodiment, a set of components can be implemented in a single IC chip.In other embodiments, one or more of respective components arefabricated or implemented on separate IC chips.

What has been described above includes examples of the embodiments ofthe present invention. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing the claimed subject matter, but it is to be appreciated thatmany further combinations and permutations of the subject innovation arepossible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended to embraceall such alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within thespirit and scope of the appended claims. Moreover, the above descriptionof illustrated embodiments of the subject disclosure, including what isdescribed in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limitthe disclosed embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. While specificembodiments and examples are described herein for illustrative purposes,various modifications are possible that are considered within the scopeof such embodiments and examples, as those skilled in the relevant artcan recognize. Moreover, use of the term “an embodiment” or “oneembodiment” throughout is not intended to mean the same embodimentunless specifically described as such.

In particular and in regard to the various functions performed by theabove described components, devices, circuits, systems and the like, theterms used to describe such components are intended to correspond,unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs thespecified function of the described component (e.g., a functionalequivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosedstructure, which performs the function in the herein illustratedexemplary aspects of the claimed subject matter. In this regard, it willalso be recognized that the innovation includes a system as well as acomputer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructionsfor performing the acts and/or events of the various methods of theclaimed subject matter.

The aforementioned systems/circuits/modules have been described withrespect to interaction between several components/blocks. It can beappreciated that such systems/circuits and components/blocks can includethose components or specified sub-components, some of the specifiedcomponents or sub-components, and/or additional components, andaccording to various permutations and combinations of the foregoing.Sub-components can also be implemented as components communicativelycoupled to other components rather than included within parentcomponents (hierarchical). Additionally, it should be noted that one ormore components may be combined into a single component providingaggregate functionality or divided into several separate sub-components,and any one or more middle layers, such as a management layer, may beprovided to communicatively couple to such sub-components in order toprovide integrated functionality. Any components described herein mayalso interact with one or more other components not specificallydescribed herein but known by those of skill in the art.

In addition, while a particular feature of the subject innovation mayhave been disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations,such feature may be combined with one or more other features of theother implementations as may be desired and advantageous for any givenor particular application. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms“includes,” “including,” “has,” “contains,” variants thereof, and othersimilar words are used in either the detailed description or the claims,these terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term“comprising” as an open transition word without precluding anyadditional or other elements.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “module,” “system,”or the like are generally intended to refer to a computer-relatedentity, either hardware (e.g., a circuit), a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or an entity related to an operational machine withone or more specific functionalities. For example, a component may be,but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor (e.g.,digital signal processor), a processor, an object, an executable, athread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way ofillustration, both an application running on a controller and thecontroller can be a component. One or more components may reside withina process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized onone computer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Further,a “device” can come in the form of specially designed hardware;generalized hardware made specialized by the execution of softwarethereon that enables the hardware to perform specific function; softwarestored on a computer readable medium; or a combination thereof.

Moreover, the words “example” or “exemplary” are used herein to meanserving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or designdescribed herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use ofthe words “example” or “exemplary” is intended to present concepts in aconcrete fashion. As used in this application, the term “or” is intendedto mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or”. That is, unlessspecified otherwise, or clear from context, “X employs A or B” isintended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, ifX employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A and B, then “X employs Aor B” is satisfied under any of the foregoing instances. In addition,the articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appendedclaims should generally be construed to mean “one or more” unlessspecified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singularform.

Computing devices typically include a variety of media, which caninclude computer-readable storage media and/or communications media, inwhich these two terms are used herein differently from one another asfollows. Computer-readable storage media can be any available storagemedia that can be accessed by the computer, is typically of anon-transitory nature, and can include both volatile and nonvolatilemedia, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and notlimitation, computer-readable storage media can be implemented inconnection with any method or technology for storage of information suchas computer-readable instructions, program modules, structured data, orunstructured data. Computer-readable storage media can include, but arenot limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memorytechnology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical diskstorage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage orother magnetic storage devices, or other tangible and/or non-transitorymedia which can be used to store desired information. Computer-readablestorage media can be accessed by one or more local or remote computingdevices, e.g., via access requests, queries or other data retrievalprotocols, for a variety of operations with respect to the informationstored by the medium.

On the other hand, communications media typically embodycomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules orother structured or unstructured data in a data signal that can betransitory such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrier wave orother transport mechanism, and includes any information delivery ortransport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signals refers to asignal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed insuch a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By way ofexample, and not limitation, communication media include wired media,such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless mediasuch as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: determining whether toselect a user as a candidate user for generating an endorsement of acontent item by: determining a size of an audience associated with theuser, wherein the size of the audience is related to a quantity of usersthat have requested to receive information indicating that content hasbeen endorsed by the user; determining a probability of endorsement ofthe content item by the user based on interests of the user and a typeof content of the content item, and selecting the user as the candidateuser for generating the endorsement of the content item based on anumber of users included in the audience having an affinity for thecontent item exceeding a predetermined threshold and the probability ofthe endorsement by the user; and causing an invitation with the contentitem to be presented to the user, wherein the invitation prompts theuser to endorse the content item.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theuser is selected as the candidate user based at least in part on acapability of the user to endorse the content item, wherein thecapability to endorse the content item includes at least one of: anability to mark the content item as liked, an ability to share thecontent item, and an ability to comment on the content item.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the user is selected as the candidate userbased at least in part on a sharing setting associated with the user,wherein the sharing setting indicates one or more criteria required forusers other than the user to be authorized to receive informationindicating that content has been endorsed by the user.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the size of the audience is determined based at leastin part on the sharing setting and a characteristic of the content itemand wherein the quantity of users is determined based on the one or morecriteria.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining avalue of endorsement of the content item by the user based on the sizeof the audience associated with the user and the probability ofendorsement of the content item by the user, wherein the value ofendorsement of the content item by the user indicates a number of usersincluded in the audience who will view the content item based on seeingan indication of the endorsement of the content item by the user andwherein the user is selected as the candidate user for generating theendorsement of the content item based on the value of endorsement of thecontent item by the user.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein size of theaudience is determined by determining the audience based on socialnetworks respectively established by the user.
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising: determining an amount of users included in theaudience that demonstrate a predisposed affinity for the content item;and selecting the user based on the amount of users that demonstrate thepredisposed affinity for the content item.
 8. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving engagement information regardingengagement of respective audience members of the audience; and selectingthe user based on the engagement information.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising: selecting the user based on an endorsement historyof the user, wherein the endorsement history identifies at least one of:a frequency with which content has been endorsed, a characteristic ofcontent endorsed, and a type of content endorsement frequently provided.10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving an endorsementof the content item by the user; associating information with thecontent item identifying the user as an endorser of the content item andidentifying the audience of the user; and generating a social annotationthat indicates the user has endorsed the content item.
 11. A systemcomprising: a memory having stored thereon computer executableinstructions; and a processor that, when executing the computerexecutable instructions, is configured to: determine whether to select auser as a candidate user for generating an endorsement of a content itemby: determining a size of an audience associated with the user, whereinthe size of the audience is related to a quantity of users that haverequested to receive information indicating that content has beenendorsed by the user; determining a probability of endorsement of thecontent item by the user based on interests of the user and a type ofcontent of the content item; and selecting the user as the candidateuser for generating the endorsement of the content item based on anumber of users included in the audience having an affinity for thecontent item exceeding a predetermined threshold and the probability ofthe endorsement by the user; and cause an invitation with the contentitem to be presented to the user, wherein the invitation prompts theuser to endorse the content item.
 12. The system of claim 11, whereinthe user is selected as the candidate user based at least in part on acapability of the user to endorse the content item, wherein thecapability to endorse the content item includes at least one of: anability to mark the content item as liked, an ability to share thecontent item, and an ability to comment on the content item.
 13. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the user is selected as the candidate userbased at least in part on a sharing setting associated with the user,wherein the sharing setting indicates one or more criteria required forusers other than the user to be authorized to receive informationindicating that content has been endorsed by the user.
 14. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the size of the audience is determined based at leastin part on the sharing setting and a characteristic of the content itemand wherein the quantity of users is determined based on the one or morecriteria.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to determine a value of endorsement of the content item bythe user based on the size of the audience associated with the user andthe probability of endorsement of the content item by the user, whereinthe value of endorsement of the content item by the user indicates anumber of users included in the audience who will view the content itembased on seeing an indication of the endorsement of the content item bythe user and wherein the user is selected as the candidate user forgenerating the endorsement of the content item based on the value ofendorsement of the content item by the user.
 16. The system of claim 11,wherein size of the audience is determined by determining the audiencebased on social networks respectively established by the user.
 17. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to:determine an amount of users included in the audience that demonstrate apredisposed affinity for the content item; and select the user based onthe amount of users that demonstrate the predisposed affinity for thecontent item.
 18. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: receive engagement information regardingengagement of respective audience members of the audience; and selectthe user based on the engagement information.
 19. The system of claim11, wherein the processor is further configured to: select the userbased on an endorsement history of the user, wherein the endorsementhistory identifies at least one of: a frequency with which content hasbeen endorsed, a characteristic of content endorsed, and a type ofcontent endorsement frequently provided.
 20. The system of claim 11,wherein the processor is further configured to: receive an endorsementof the content item by the user; associate information with the contentitem identifying the user as an endorser of the content item andidentifying the audience of the user; and generate a social annotationthat indicates the user has endorsed the content item.
 21. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer executableinstructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor toperform a method, the method comprising: determining whether to select auser as a candidate user for generating an endorsement of a content itemby: determining a size of an audience associated with the user, whereinthe size of the audience is related to a quantity of users that haverequested to receive information indicating that content has beenendorsed by the user; determining a probability of endorsement of thecontent item by the user based on interests of the user and a type ofcontent of the content item; and selecting the user as the candidateuser for generating the endorsement of the content item based on anumber of users included in the audience having an affinity for thecontent item exceeding a predetermined threshold and the probability ofthe endorsement by the user; and causing an invitation with the contentitem to be presented to the user, wherein the invitation prompts theuser to endorse the content item.